Brandon Township

Douglas County, Minnesota

Brandon Township Meeting, Monday, May 16, 2011

BrandonTownship Meeting MinutesMay 16, 2011A special BrandonTownship meeting to recertify the 2011 town levy was called to order by clerk, Adrian Ledermann on Monday, May 6, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the BrandonCommunity Center.The pledge of allegiance was recited.On a motion by Cleary, seconded by Lanners, Ledermann was elected to chair the special meeting.The proposal to recertify the 2012 tax levy so that BrandonTownship would comply with the gas tax refund requirement, was adopted on a motion by Lanners, seconded by Cleary, and passed unanimously.The only changes were to lower the general fund levy from $18,000 to $15,000 and to raise the road and bridge fund from $72,000 to $75,000.The brief meeting was adjourned on a motion by Lanners, seconded by Cleary and passed.The regular monthly meeting of the Brandon Township Board was held on Monday, May 16, 2011 at the BrandonCommunity Center with Paul Lauthen, Michael Cleary, Jennifer Lanners, Diane Smith and Adrian Ledermann present.The meeting was called to order by Mike Cleary at 7:00 p.m.Clerks Report:The minutes of the April 18th meeting were addressed.The minutes were approved on a motion by Lanners, seconded by Cleary and carried.Treasurer’s Report:Beginning balance on 04/01/2011 was $30,155.80.Interest from Revenue on account at Bremer was $1.33.Orders issued were $1,860.55 for a total ending balance of $28,296.58.Investments reported included Tar & Road Fund received $74.00 in interest to now total $207,051.85.Motion made by Lanners, seconded by Lauthen, to approve report; carried.Public Comment: Three visitors were present to address agenda items as they came up.Agenda Approval:The revised agenda was approved with the additional item of mowing Edgefield cemetery.Old Business:a.1. Road conditions update:Blacktop on Chippewa Hts is still breaking up.Warning signs are in place.Now is not the time to do the repair work.After discussion and input from engineer Jeff Stabnow, Lauthen will contact someone to lift the broken blacktop and fill the area with gravel.Aldrich road also has a bad area just west of Co 109.Croonquist has bladed several loads of gravel from Okerlund, but nothing further can be done now. Previous tiling may need to be extended.Lehn U turn also has several bad frost boils.a. 2. Road sign update: Lanners has mapped all township sign locations (c. 100).On a motion by Lanners, seconded by Lauthen, Stabnow was hired to do inspection of all township signs and sign posts and make recommendations for what needs to be done at a cost of $1,600.Stabnow is also working with MNDOT to seek a universal township policy format.b. Slack road:Cleary contacted county director Robley, who recommended that a three party meeting take place to resolve the issue since the present road does not meet county standards for a township road.Ramona Slack was present to request that a decision be made as they have tried to get approval for the past year.Ledermann suggested that a cartway designation may be appropriate.Cleary will invite a county rep to the JuneBrandonTownship meeting with the Slacks for a decision.c. road grader analysis; still no report.d. LoveLake draining:job has begun but pipe to be drawn through boring broke, so unsure if work done.e. Board of Review reports were viewed.New Business:a. Four land use permits were reviewed.b. Mail box post policy:On a motion by Lanners, seconded by Lauthen, a mail box policy was established.(cf. mail box policy attachment)c. Resolution to authorize work in emergency.A proposed resolution was reviewed.Board recommended that all supervisor names be on the authorization, with a limit of $5,000 per order for the year 2011.Clerk will redo the resolution for approval at the next meeting.d. AnnualDouglasCounty road info meeting.Clerk Ledermann will attend and represent Brandon.e. Grading and snow plowing price increase for work done in Garfield, Ida township or LeafValleyTownship:Ledermann will check with county for going rate.f. Edgefield mowing:On a motion by Lauthen, seconded by Cleary and passed, Lauthen will engage Jerry Buse to again mow the cemetery at the rate $125.00 per time.Lauthen will contact Buse and require insurance certificate.g. Culvert on Skrove Rd.The broken culvert will be replaced with a new one from Hilltop.h. Chloride spread:truck copies for 2011 chloride requests were given to Lauthen and Cleary.i. Clerk notes:Okerlund insurance certificate has been received; MATIT glass coverage check has been received; MAT card were distributed; Smith will seek new IRS address; CApX2020 line is being finalized; AA recycling offers free appliance recycling for cities and townships.Claims and Wages:Claims and wages requests were presented and viewed by the board.Claims included:DouglasCounty Assessor-$7,231.00 for 1033 parcels; Douglas County Public Works-$202.50 for culvert steaming; West Central Petroleum-$2,085.93 for diesel; Otter Tail Power-$22.14 for shop electricity.Claims and Wages were ordered to be paid on a motion by Lanners seconded by Cleary and approved.Next month meeting will be on Monday, June 20, 2011, 7p.m. at the BrandonCommunity Center.The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.Adrian Ledermann, clerkBRANDON TOWNSHIP POLICYMail Box Support System Brandon Township is looking to upgrade the present mail box support system along township roads in order to better enable effective snow plowing and grading of township roads.The new system will also be safer for traffic, and lead to less mail box damage.A mail box support system similar to that adopted by the Douglas County Highway department (SwingSAFE Support System) is the preferred option.Brandon Township residents are encouraged to put in the new swing safe type system whenever they replace their present mail box posts.Beginning in 2012, all newly built township roads taken over by Brandon Township will require the new system to be installed by the developer of the new road.Any township roads to be rebuilt by Brandon Township will also require the new support system.